


Looking

by AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk



Series: Prompt Fills [9]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 03:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19737019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk/pseuds/AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk
Summary: "I love you so much. You know that, right?""Prove it."





	Looking

He was looking again.

He was always _looking_ , Jonathan never missed it and it killed him. 

The thing that got to him the most, however, wasn’t the knowledge that Steve didn’t only have eyes for him. It was that he couldn’t do anything about it, couldn’t call him out on it when they were in public, couldn’t hang off him in the middle of a crowded restaurant or give all the pretty girls sending Steve flirtatious glances the bitter look he wished he could stop hiding. 

He watches helplessly as Steve throws a wink at a thin brunette seated across the room from them. He’s not sure why he puts up with it anymore.

“ _Steve_ ,” he mumbles. 

Steve doesn’t turn back immediately, so Jonathan repeats himself a touch louder. Steve’s head whips back to face him, a bright smile easily sliding into place when he meets Jonathan’s eyes. “Yeah?” he asks.

“I…” Jonathan begins, unsure of where to go from there. There’s a lot he’d like to say, so much anguish building up on the forefront of his mind that’s _begging_ to tumble out past his lips, but instead he says nothing. 

Steve cocks his head to the side and furrows his brow in a look of concern. “What’s up? Is something wrong?”

Jonathan’s lips slip into a vague frown as he replies, “Yeah, Steve. Something’s been wrong for a while. You’re just too busy looking at every girl around us to notice it’s not right. We’re not right.” He decides to leave it at that, standing from his seat and turning toward the door of the diner.

Steve instantly rises up after him, confusion written clearly over his features. “Jonathan, I- what’s going on? I don’t understand.” He’s raising his voice now, probably without realizing it, but that’s not okay, this conversation is _not okay_ and only Jonathan seems to realize they’re surrounded by neighbors and classmates. 

“Steve, we can’t talk about this here-”

“What are we even talking about?”

“Please, just be quiet.”

“Just tell me the problem, Jonathan.”

“I…” Jonathan looks around awkwardly and sees just a few pairs of eyes looking at them for causing a disturbance, but they all seem to move on rather quickly. He takes a step closer to Steve and tells him in a hushed voice, “You’re always looking at other girls, and sometimes guys too, and I just… I feel like I don’t matter, or, like…. like you don’t think I’m as good-looking as all those girls who follow you around. I just… I know it’s probably stupid, but Steve, I feel irrelevant.”

Steve’s expression flickers between several different emotions, finally settling on a mix of shock and regret. “Jonathan, I- I can’t believe I’ve made you feel like that. I let my eyes wander because I didn’t want people to get suspicious of the way we are. I don’t want us to be ruined. I… I love you so much, so fucking much, Jonathan. You know that, right?”

Jonathan listens and he wants to believe, he _needs_ to believe, but how can he be sure Steve is telling the truth and doesn’t really look at others? “Prove it,” he says, determination rising in his eyes.

“Jon, I-” Steve begins, cutting himself off when he’s not sure what move to make. 

“Yeah, exactly,” Jonathan concludes, turning back away and moving towards the door. He doesn’t get more than three steps away before Steve’s got a grip on his arm and is pulling him back, back around, back right into his warm chest. 

“I _love_ you. Fuck everyone else,” Steve declares, immediately surging forward to place a firm kiss on Jonathan’s parted lips. Jonathan goes completely still, not understanding why Steve would do this in such a crowded place, people they know everywhere they turn. Even if there wasn’t anyone they really knew there, Hawkins is a small town. It would spread. Why would he do this?

Jonathan gets it.

Steve is putting his entire reputation on the line just to prove to Jonathan that he’s genuine, that he’s the only one he cares for. 

Jonathan melts, ties his arms around Steve’s neck and pulls him impossibly closer, kisses back with everything in him, and forgets about the meaningless faces in every booth staring them down and muttering to each other. Right here, in this moment, all that matters is Steve, Steve’s hands on the small of his back, Steve’s mouth on his, Steve’s heartbeat speeding up to match his own, Steve’s hair brushing his forehead, Steve’s nose bumping his every few seconds, Steve, Steve, _Steve._

Eventually the voices around them cut through the haze.

_“Isn’t that Steve Harrington and Jonathan Byers?”_

_“Fucking fags.”_

_“Nancy dumped them both so they went for each other, how pathetic!”_

_“Why would they think that’s okay?”_

Jonathan steps away completely, only to be gently pulled back by Steve. “Steve, I- I want to leave. I-”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Steve shushes him, rubbing his arms. “Remember what I said? Fuck everyone. None of this shit matters. It’s me and you, Jonathan. Me and you. Let’s get outta here.”

Jonathan nods, and they walk out hand-in-hand, heads held high.

  


**FIN.**


End file.
